Brent Sutter served as the New Jersey Devils head coach for two years, but his loyalty to his family is greater than his loyalty to his former employers. His brother, Darryl Sutter, is the head coach of the Los Angeles Kings and Brent has been feeding him information about his Stanley Cup opponents.

“How much of a tactical advantage could that be (laughter)?” Devils coach Peter DeBoer asked. He later added, “I’ve worked with Brent. Brent is great. We’re coaches. We rely on as many good coaches and smart people rely on as many people as they can when they get in these types of situations. That doesn’t surprise me. I’m sure Brent is a great resource for Darryl.”

DeBoer has gotten some outside help as well. He has sought the guidance of former Devils coach Jaques Lemaire.

“He knows the personnel inside out and has a good feel for the players,” DeBoer said. “They had success down the stretch last year playing a certain way. I relied on him early in the season and I still have regular phone conversations with him as late as a week ago.

“He’s a great resource for me to have in the organization. He laid the foundation defensively for this team last year. That’s why we’re capable of playing teams like the Rangers and L.A. and play in 1-1, 2-1 games on a regular basis.”

Of course the Devils haven’t been able to actually beat the Kings in a one-goal game yet. Los Angeles is up 2-0 in the Stanley Cup finals with Game 3 scheduled for Monday.

To talk about hiring a coach that’s still under contract is a NHL no-no. So full marks to Oilers president Kevin Lowe, who artfully discussed Brent Sutter’s interest in Edmonton’s head coaching gig — without really discussing Brent Sutter’s interest in Edmonton’s head coaching gig.

Technically speaking, Sutter is still property of the Calgary Flames — even though Calgary GM Jay Feaster already conducted Sutter’s farewell cake-cutting ceremony. This means Sutter is still off-limits for discussion, even though all signs point to the Oilers being very interested in his services.

Lowe was Team Canada’s GM at the recently-concluded World Hockey Championships and chiefly responsible for selecting Sutter as head coach. Coincidentally, Team Canada was stockpiled with Oilers — Devan Dubnyk, Jordan Eberle, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins — as well as Everett defenseman Ryan Murray, a guy Edmonton has targeted with the No. 1 pick at the 2012 NHL Entry Draft.

That said, Lowe made it clear the topic of the Oilers gig didn’t come up at the Worlds.

“With the sacredness of the world championships and everything it means, [Sutter] didn’t need any distractions,” Lowe explained. “He’d just come from the Flames, making the mutual decision that he wasn’t going to continue to work with them, and he had a new coaching staff and team to learn in a short time.”

Lowe also said Edmonton will “ideally” have a coach in place before the June draft.

That drew the ire of Flames fans, many of whom called in to sports radio shows Friday to voice their displeasure.

One person that didn’t have a problem with Sutter’s shootout choices? One of the snubs — Iginla.

“Whatever Brent sees at the time or wants to go with,” Calgary’s captain told the Globe and Mail. “We’ve had a lot of opportunity. I’ve had some good opportunities and haven’t been able to be above .500 in those. Whoever gets called, you’re doing your best to score there.

“We don’t look at any guys who missed there and think, ‘You let us down.’ We all let each other down.”

What remains unclear is why Sutter opted for those shooters. Stajan, Comeau and Stempniak were a combined 0-for-5 heading into last night — assistant coach Craig Hartsburg said it was a “roll the dice” strategy, but even that fails to explain why Jokinen (who leads the Flames with three shootout goals) wasn’t involved.

At least he’s scored one this year.

All told, Calgary would probably be fine with eliminating the shootout altogether. The Flames are 3-9 in the skills competition and their .250 winning percentage is 29th in the NHL — only Carolina, which has yet to win a shootout (0-6), has fared worse. If the Flames fall short of the playoffs, they’ll likely rue all those blown extra points.

Actually, charity points have become a common thing for the Flames, whose four-game losing streak included two shootout losses and an OT defeat. That result halts the Flames in 10th place with 83 points no matter what happens in the West’s other big games tonight, which didn’t leave Brent Sutter very happy.

It’s not just the losses, though – it’s the opponents. After winning five games in a row largely against tough teams, they fell to the Edmonton Oilers in regulation, the Columbus Blue Jackets and Wild in shootouts and the Colorado Avalanche in overtime.

Come to think of it, that’s the kind of run that makes you want to unleash your rage on an innocent trash can, doesn’t it?